What are the priorities for cooperation between the Ukrainian IP Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)? What support projects can the European Union offer to Ukrainian small and medium enterprises, given Ukraine’s path toward integrating its market and IP sphere with that of the EU?

 

These and many other questions were discussed during the bilateral meeting of the executives from the Ukrainian IP Office and the EUIPO. This meeting, held in Geneva, was of significant importance as it coincided with the Sixty-Fifth Series of Assemblies of Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

 

From the EUIPO side, the following officers participated in the meeting:

 

• Mr João Negrão, Executive Director;
• Mr Sandris Laganovskis, Director, Institutional and Cooperation Department (ICD);
• Mr Antonio Berengue, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Area, Cooperation and Partnerships Department (CPD);
• Ms Alexandra Mayr, Acting Head, International Partnerships Service, CPD;
• Ms Jacqueline Winkelmolen, Team Leader, International Cooperation Area, CPD.

 

The Ukrainian IP Office was represented by:

 

• Ms Olena Orliuk, Director;
• Mr Bogdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director;
• Mr Vladyslav Bilotskyi, Deputy Director.

 

   

 

The Ukrainian IP Office’s Director, Olena Orliuk, expressed her profound gratitude for this meeting and the unwavering support that EUIPO provides to Ukraine, its national innovative ecosystem and the development of the intellectual property sphere. She especially thanked for the invaluable assistance in Ukraine’s European integration process, underscoring the importance of such collaboration and the warmth of the relationship.

 

She emphasised the negative consequences of Russian aggression on Ukraine’s economy and spoke about the work of the national agency in conditions of security risks and power outages. She also noted that, despite all these challenges, the indicators of incoming applications for all intellectual property objects are showing promising progress, gradually returning to pre-invasion and pre-COVID-19 levels, showcasing the remarkable resilience and determination of the Ukrainian IP Office.

 

“Last year, we reduced the fee for submitting applications online. This supports our business and is an indicator of the development of our IT systems. But in the context of the IT infrastructure, we still have a lot to do,” said Olena Orliuk, adding that one of the priority areas of bilateral cooperation with the EUIPO could be the support of the IT infrastructure, the exchange of experience regarding electronic services, software and data integration. She is also convinced that this will help implement EU standards in the Office’s expert examinations.

 

Additionally, Ms Orliuk thanked João Negrão for the support provided within the framework of the “Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine” (EU4IP) project. This EU-funded project aims to strengthen intellectual property rights in several EU candidate countries. It is implemented in cooperation between the EUIPO and national intellectual property offices, including the Ukrainian IP Office.

 

João Negrão and Olena Orliuk

 

“The EU4IP project is one of the defining platforms that will help the Ukrainian intellectual property sector to adapt to the EU market. In addition, we consider this initiative a platform for implementing EU recommendations”, said the Ukrainian IP Office’s Director. She expressed her hopes that this project will bring multi-aspect cooperation with EUIPO to a new level.

 

“We welcome the approval of the comprehensive first and general Work Plans of the EU4IP project. The scale of their implementation is very ambitious. Yet, we consider them feasible despite the current challenges caused by russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine,” added Bogdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director of the Ukrainian IP Office.

 

He also spoke about the latest updates to the by-laws that introduce European standards and approaches into the national legal field. This May, the Order of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine “On approval of the Rules for drawing up and submitting an application for an industrial design and conducting an examination of an application for an industrial design and international registration of an industrial design” entered into force. Draft trademark regulations are also currently being adopted.

 

The IP Office’s Deputy Director, Vladyslav Bilotskyi, informed his European colleagues that in June 2024, the work of two collegial bodies, the National Intellectual Property Authority’s Appeals Chamber and the “Ukraine” Commission, resumed their operation. He also spoke about the latest achievements of the National IP&Innovations Hub, the Mediation Center and the Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Monitoring Center.

 

During the meeting, the parties also discussed:

 

• practical steps of implementing the EU4IP project,
• educational visits,
• the possibility of implementing the Intellectual Property Rights Protection Portal (IPEP) in Ukraine,
• cooperation on blockchain initiatives and IT infrastructure support,
• cooperation of the Ukrainian IP Office’s IPR Infringement Monitoring Center with the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights and other issues.

 

 

Photo: EUIPO/Alexander Petrenko.

 

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